Gambit
by KTR Alpha
Summary: The Spartans take on another 'suicide' mission against a Covenant ground base.
1. Gambit Ch 1

Hello all! This is my first story so please read & review and don't hold any punches in your reviews. All characters are copyrighted by their respective owners.

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**Gambit**

"Contact, twenty meters south southwest of my position. Modified light patrol, one Elite, about a dozen or so Grunts.", crackled a voice over the comm.

The Master Chief motioned for his team to stop. They had gotten very lucky so far only having encountered one other light patrol of Grunts. The Chief considered his options. He could either stop and order his team into hiding and hope that they could avoid detection, but that left the problem of an enemy patrol at their backs. His other option was to eliminate the patrol now and risk them sending another patrol after the first went missing for a while. Since they ideally wouldn't be here for a while, he chose the latter and started giving the orders.

"Linda, get on some high ground and take out that Elite. Everyone else, we're on crowd control. No explosives, silenced weapons only."

As one Spartan separated from the group and found a healthy looking tree, the rest threaded silencers into their modified MA5B assault rifles. Once Linda found a good spot, she flashed a signal laser, a small laser only visible to the Spartan's enhanced vision, on the Elite. A few seconds ticked by and a single shot rang out. The Elite's head turned into a rather odd looking fountain of gore as the armor-piercing round tore through helmet and skull without regard. The Grunts looked around in confusion firing at random spots, hopng to hit something. The Spartans opened fire and the Grunts fell one-by-one to the precise fire of the Spartan's weapons.

"That looks like it", remarked SPARTAN-065, Joe. The remaining four Spartans made no additional comments as they trekked deeper into the forest brush.

"Chief, you may want to take a look at this."

The Chief didn't like the tone in his point man's, SPARTAN-055 James, voice and ordered the rest of the Spartans to take up guard positions. He stepped carefully to where James had left a nav marker and peeked through the foliage. What he saw almost caused him to gasp. Grunts as far as the eye could see, easily ten thousand strong, guarded the target building that the Spartans had been ordered to destroy. Nearest to the building, small sheilded huts where the Elites resided, formed a small town. A little farther from the building was the Jackal dwellings forming what the Chief would imagine to be a bulls-eye around the building. The Chief had never seen so much Covenant in one place, at one time. He looked east and west and saw a possible entrance.

"Linda, Fred, take up sniper positions with a clear view of the landing field. Everyone else, I hope you remember the piloting drill that the ONI spooks ran us through. We skirt the perimeter and try to reach the Banshees in that landing area. If you get separated flash a signal laser and we'll try to get to you."

As the Spartans started moving, the Chief took one more look at the army massed before him. They seemed relatively relaxed, which meant that the Elites weren't as strict in contolling the Grunts and Jackals as he had seen at other Covenant bases. That, he thought, had to work in their favor.

As they got closer, he saw signal lasers flash on the Grunts in plasma turrents guarding the Banshees. When he was right next to the landing area, he flashed his own signal laser on a Banshee. Four shots rang out and the Grunts on the turrents drooped over, dead. The Chief charged out toward the Banshee he had lasered and got in. Moments later the rest of his team had gotten in the Banshees and finished off the remaining unpiloted Banshees. Scores of Grunts and Jackals fell to their own technology as the Spartans sowed confusion among their ranks with well-placed shots. after about an hour of heavy fighting, the last of the Grunts fell to the ground and the Spartans landed and started for the building.


	2. Gambit Ch 2

**Gambit:**

Chapter 2

As the Spartans approached the building, they took the time to salvage what ammunition he could from several mangled human bodies that were part of the last assault on the base. When they got closer to the structure, the Chief turned on his IR filters to see if he could gat a glimpse of what lay beyond the large door in front of him. He saw nothing which gave him a bit of apprehension. They had made plenty of noise outside when they destroyed the army defending the base, and now, not seeing any sign of a welcoming party, gave him cause for suspicion. The only explanation he could come up with that fit the facts was that the door was sheilded. As he made his way to the control panel, the door started sliding open. All the Spartans instanly had their weapons aimed at this new threat. On the other side of the door stood a squad of Grunts and Jackals. He danced around the plasma that came from the opening as the rest of the Spartans opened fire. Within seconds the balance of the Covenant squad was dead from head and neck shots. The remaining Grunts fled deeper into the building and were picked off by a few well-placed sniper shots.

As the shots echoed into the giant structure, the Spartans entered, The corridors, aside from being a tad small, were pulsing a cool purple. After a few minutes of corridor travelling, the Chief saw a sickly green glow from around the corner. He motioned his team to stop and primed a grenade, counted to three and threw it around the corner. As the grenade expolded, two Hunters emerged from a door to the right of the Spartans. Seeing them, the Spartans opened fire in small bursts aiming for the weak spots on the neck and stomach. as the Chief dodged a shot from the Hunters, something caught his eye. From the corner that he had first seen signs of Covenant troops came two more Hunters and a pair of red armored Elites. The Elites charged out in front of the Hunters and ignited plasma swords. The Hunters, seeing their superiors in the way, ceased fire and watched. One Elite was killed instantly as a sniper round tore through the right eye socket of its helmet. As it fell, the other Elite reached the Chief. The Chief, having already spent his clip on the Hunters, got into a fighting stance. As he dodged the first strike from the Elite, Joe came up and, almost contemptuously, smashed the back of its skull in.

The Hunters, angered at the death of their superiors, charged the Spartans firing as they closed the distance. As soon as they started their charge, a sniper round found home on one of the Hunter's exposed neck. The Hunter collapsed as he soffocated to death from a shredded throat. As the Spartans simultaneously switched to the pistols they carried, the Hunters reached them. The Spartans, knowing that it was futile to take on a Hunter head-on, scattered in the hallway. The Hunters, being too big for their own good, couldn't stop in time to dodge the bullets aimed at their exposed backs. The Hunters dropped with at least four shots in each of their backs.

The Spartans reloaded and continued around the corner, keeping an eye out for the subtle distortions indicating camoflaged Elites. After another ten minutes of walking, they encountered a large, highly decorated door. The Chief signaled his team to take flanking positions. In silence they waited for Joe to finish decrypting the code on the door panel. The Chief got nervous, normally it didn't take this long to decrypt a Covenant code....unless they were nearing their target. The Chief and the rest of the Spartans had been extensively trained on what to expect in this mission, except for their target, the 'Prophet of Justice'. This could be their first time seeing a Prophet in person and from what has been decrypted from intercepted Covenant transmissions, they were heavily guarded. The door clicked and slid open revealing a highly decorated chamber beyond.


	3. Gambit Ch 3

**Gambit:**

Chapter 3

The Chief took the scene in at a glance. The room had a high domed ceiling, with what looked like a heart throbbing in the center of the dome. Elites in white armor were gesturing imperiously and yelling out orders. Moments later, the translators kicked in and several proud voices whispered in his ear, "Where is Qu'uanto and his squad?" "This place is a total catastrophe!! The holy one deserves better than this!" One Elite noticed the door open and, without noticing the Spartans, started an elaborate greeting that was obviously meant for some dignitary instead of the Spartans. When the Elite began his speech, all in the room hurried to the center and bowed in their direction.

"Wow! There must be a mistake", crackled a voice over the comm., " or the diplomats are better than I thought."

"Diplomats could never have done this much good in their lifetimes," replied another voice, "Intel must be off. The Prophet should be here by now."

The Elite that the Chief guessed was in charge started an elaborate introduction speech that was obviously meant for the Prophet, "Oh venerable holy one, we are forever honored by your presence. The Sanctum of High Justice has been prepared for your arrival and is updated with the most holy artifacts, directly from the Forerunners, to aid in your cleansing of this area. You may take...ah.... Hey, wait a minute!!! You aren't the High Prophet of Justice!!"

With that all eyes snapped up and glared at the Spartans. The Spartans had made it through the doorway and were cautiously approaching the group of Covenant. As soon as the Elite had made the statement, frag grenades were hurled into the group. Elites dove from the explosives only to meet a precision barrage of 7.62mm armor-piercing rounds. Almost all of the Grunts and at least three Elites fell dead from the barrage. The remaining forces, however, pulled out their weapons and returned fire in an eye-searing display of plasma and needler rounds. The quick moving Spartans were able to dodge most of the fire, but some connected and the Chief felt the suit's temperature raise several degrees from close calls with plasma bolts. Crystalline needles flew past him impacting and detonating in the door behind him. He fired his assault rifle at the closest Elite and cursed. It had brought its shields up. The Chief continued firing bursts to keep the Elite off balance as he readied a pair of plasma grenades. The instant the Elites shields collapsed, he flung the Covenant weapons with all his considerable might. One stuck to the Elite he was aiming at and the other stuck to the one remaining Grunt. The Elite disappeared in a bright flash a few seconds later. The Grunt, however, ran towards the nearest Covenant troops in an effort to get the grenade off. The resulting explosion was enough to wipe out the balance of Elites. The rest were easily dispatched with several well-placed shots.

A nearby door opened and an Elite in gold armor strode out, not expecting the carnage before it. It immediately pulled out a plasma sword and scanned the area. Joe, the nearest to the Elite, came out of hiding, and quietly came up behind it. He raised the butt of his rifle and brought it down hard. The Elite's shields absorbed the blow and the Elite swung around with its unarmed hand. The blow sent Joe flying across the room. Two shots rang out from Linda's sniper rifle. Both ricocheted off of the shields covering its head. Linda cursed at the unfortunate turn of events. This Elite bore a symbol on its helmet that was associated with the Prophet. The Spartans had just gotten the Prophet's personal bodyguard extremely pissed off.

The Elite strode toward where he had thrown Joe across the room. Joe was groggily getting up as the Elite raised his plasma sword. It paused for a second when it heard an unknown sound. Curious, it turned around and was greeted by a _whoosh_ and a rare once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of seeing a rocket racing at it. The rocket impacted blowing him into the wall that it had cornered Joe in just a second ago. Its shields flickered and faded and it sat there motionless. The Chief couldn't be sure if it was dead or unconscious, so he fired a second rocket just to make sure. This time it blew apart with purple blood spattering everywhere. Making up his mind, he ran towards Joe and tried to revive him. Joe sat up groggily, the effects of multiple concussions taking their toll. Joe's speech was slurred and his motion was uncoordinated. The Chief picked Joe up and slung him over his shoulder. There would be time to treat Joes wounds later, for now there was a job to do.


	4. Gambit Ch 4

Chapter 4

"Objective completed. Break out the nuke," ordered the Master Chief. The Spartans jumped to the task. The HAVOC nuclear mine was not very easy to set up and anyone who was going to use one had to go through a special training course to teach them how. The Spartans, having spent weeks preparing for the mission, knew the HAVOC inside and out. James led the setup of it and Linda broke out the field med kit.

The rapid series of concussive blasts had overridden the cushioning power of the hydrostatic gel in Joe's helmet and he had several cuts and bruises. As Linda bandaged Joe up, the Chief stood guard and covered the rest of his squad. A faint blip appeared on his motion tracker. He motioned Fred to stand guard while he investigated this odd signal. As he started towards the source of the signal, it disappeared.

"Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of camouflaged Elites," he warned as he investigated the place where the signal was when it had disappeared. A slight squishing came from under some control terminals to his left. Curious, he bent over to investigate. As he gazed at the strange little creature, he wondered what it was. It was shaped like a squid with a balloon-like sac filled with a green gas on its back that allowed it to float. On the bottom of it, there was a long tentacle and several other appendages that seemed to form a suction cup. It seemed to sense his presence and turned to face him. It hopped along until it got to within a meter of him before it lunged. Fred, who saw the threat first, fire a quick burst at it before it reached the Chief. It popped like a firecracker in front of the Master Chief's face splattering mottled brown goop on his visor.

"What was that thing," he asked rhetorically as he made sure that his mission recorder got a good look at the thing.

"Ugly little fellow," commented Fred as he shouldered his rifle again. "What could the Covenant want with such an odd creature? It didn't seem to have any offensive abilities whatsoever, and," he added as he walked over to join the Chief, "it was weaker than any Grunt I've ever seen, even a wounded one."

"It's dead now. Let's let the ONI spooks and eggheads in research deal with what it is," said the Chief effectively ending the conversation.

James was the first to break the silence. "Sir, it's ready," he said, "where do you want this thing," he asked indicating the HAVOC.

"This base has a special significance to the Covenant because of its special biotechnology. The pulsing object on the ceiling is an advanced heart that pumps energy instead of blood. This system can carry twenty times the amount of energy compared to standard copper wire. Because of this unique ability, several hundred generators have been interfaced with this node and now are powering a prototype plasma weapon that uses slipspace to travel long distances" explained the Chief, "The 'heart' is our target. Prepare the timer and break out some of the adhesives."


End file.
